This piece came to me as I sat by the river at its calm place. The sun was such that the river was a mirror. After moments of contemplation, I saw that the river formed a mirror for its edge kin to glory in their glory. A horizontal axis of the edge kin’s web were echoed in the water mirror, and thus formed a reclining (in the words of artist Kyra Kristof) “rib cage of the grandmothers”. At the time, I had also been thinking about disorientation as a cardinal point, and about myself as a body connecting earth and sky. I was compelled to take this horizon rib cage and tilt it vertically as a ladder.
When this happens, the Earth/Water conversation tilts into a sacred activation between Earth and Sky. Disorienting the axis creates a metabolic shift that rearranges my nervous system and my spirit, allowing for a different kind of sensing into the presence of the living world.
The result is a stylized painted scroll (2’x8’) made using inks fabricated by In The Name of the Madrone out of materials harvested in the area where the piece originated.
To see video of the piece in progress click Here and Here
hand made ink, pencil on multi media paper scroll. 2025-26
© 2022 Binda Colebrook